What to Expect When BlackBerry Reports Earnings

BlackBerry Ltd. (NASDAQ: BBRY) is scheduled to release its fiscal first-quarter earnings report before the markets open on Thursday. The consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters are a net loss of $0.08 per share on $470.94 million. That compares with the net loss of $0.05 per share on $658.0 million posted in the same period of last year.

Overall, BlackBerry’s fourth-quarter performance was solid, according to management, as the company made progress on the key elements of its strategy. Paramount to this strategy is for BlackBerry to grow software faster than the mobility software market, achieve device profitability and generate positive free cash flow.

This company has witnessed one of the greatest falls from grace and prime time in the modern era of consumer electronics. The company has a relatively new CEO in John Chen, and he is considered stellar for keeping things up better than they might otherwise be. The problem here is that some analysts and some investors are still very concerned about BlackBerry’s future.

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A few analysts weighed in on BlackBerry ahead of the earnings release:

• BMO Capital Markets reiterated a Hold rating and an $8 price target.
• RBC Capital Markets reiterated it at Sector Perform with a $10 price target.
• Credit Suisse reiterated a Sell rating.
• Imperial Capital has a $7 price target.
• Wells Fargo reiterated a Market Perform rating.
• Macquarie initiated coverage with an Underperform rating.
• Canaccord Genuity reiterated a Hold rating with an $8 price target.

So far in 2016, BlackBerry has underperformed the market with the stock down 24%. Over the past year, the stock is down roughly 23%.

Shares of BlackBerry were trading at $6.96 midday Wednesday. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $7.75 and a 52-week trading range of $5.96 to $9.46.

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